A freshwater fish biomonitor for EDCs in Southern Victoria

Recent biomonitoring programs throughout Australia have revealed detectable release of steroidal hormones into waterways through Waste Water Treatment Plants and feedlot effluents. However, despite recent advances, it is difficult to determine whether the concentrations of these hormones are sufficient to produce effects on freshwater fish populations, and their potential effects on freshwater indigenous fish are still largely unknown. Further laboratory and field studies are needed to assess the impact of these chemicals in Australian aquatic ecosystems and especially on native fish. The identification of appropriate species, which are likely to be useful indicators of endocrine disruption in field conditions, is one of the key stages in a research strategy for investigating the ecological effects of endocrine disruption. This review aims to evaluate the potential of indigenous freshwater fish species of Southern Victoria for biomonitoring endocrine disruptive effects in the laboratory and in the field. We reviewed the characteristics of indigenous freshwater fish species found in the Southern Victoria catchments, and their life history patterns, as selection criteria for a "biomonitor'. Nineteen fish species were considered, and three species were identified as potential biomonitors that may justify further investigation for the development of toxicity tests and as biomarkers of endocrine disruption. These three species are the Australian smelt (Retropinna semoni), flathead gudgeon (Philypnodon grandiceps) and the southern pygmy perch (Nannoperca australis).